Load lifter-actuating means



- June 1, 1937.

c. CHRISTIANSEN 2,082,686

LOAD LIFTER ACTUATING MEANS I Filed Ma 15, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 \I I I Q 7 I Chris-Zia)? Gh'r'z'siz'ansen 1 1937- c. CHRISTIANSEN LOAD LIFTER .IACTUATING MEANS Filed May 13, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [may , WHH

Patented June 1, 1937 UNITED STATES zeszts ATzE N T O F F [C E LOAD LIFTER-ACTUATING MEANS Christian Christiansen, Fargo, N. Dak.

'ApplicationMay 13, 1936, Serial No. 79,574

'6 Claims.

"The invention aims to :provide a new and improved means for actuating load lifters, principally of the general type disclosed in my U. S. application Serial No. 56,379, filed December 27,

- 1935, now Patent No. 2,065,1'71, dated Dec.22,

1936, andthe present application is a continuation in part of said application.

The load-lifting means isoperated by winding -a cable on a power driven drum, and an object of the invention isto providefor automatically discontinuing the driving of said drum when said load-lifting means has been lifted to a predetermined extent.

A further object is to provide a novel mechanism including manually actuated control means having a singlehand lever which is operative in one manner to either start or discontinue" the driving of the drum,-and is operative in another '-manner to apply a brake for checking the descent of the load-liftingmeans after dumping the load.

With the foregoing in View, the invention resides in the'novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, the description being accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a load lifter embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective View.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view substantially on line 0 3-3 of Fig. 2, the drum-driving clutch being shown in thrown-inor engaged position.

.Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the-,clutch'thrown out or disengaged.

Certainspecific features of construction have 'been shown for illustrative purposes and while they'will be rather specifically described, it is to be'understoodthat within the scope of the invention as claimed, variations may be made.

.Thefiload lifter in connection with which the improved actuating means has been shown, is of 150 fork ID or the general construction disclosed in theapplication above mentioned. The base frame 5 is designed to surround a tractor (not shown) and is provided "with appropriate hitches 6 for con- 5 meeting it with said tractor. The frame 5 fixedly carries parallel longitudinal tracks'l along which slides 8 are movable, said slidesbeing connected with the rear ends of two vertically swingable longitudinal arms9 whose front-ends carry a other load-engaging means. Addi- -tional arms H are pivoted to the base 5 and to the 'arms 9, anda block and tackle mechanism is' provided for I initially. angling .the arms, 9 and l l when the load-engaging means I 0 is in lowered 1-55 position; and for then moving the slides'B, forwardly along the tracks 1, causing lifting of the load. Suitable provision is madeto hold the load-engaging means [0 against dumping until desired and I have shown a trip cable or rope l2 for releasing the holding means and allowing load dumping.

Generally speaking, the block. and tackle mechanism is the same as that shown in the applica tion above mentioned and it need not, therefore,

be described, except to state that it includes an actuating cable or cables l3 which, when wound ona drum l4, cause operation of the load-lifting vmeans,-said means being self-lowering when the drive for said drum is discontinued. During raising of the load, the slides 8 move forwardly along the tracks" 1 and I utilize this slide movement to operate clutch throw-out means to discontinue driving of the drum [4 when the load-lifting means has been lifted to a predetermined extent,

the load being dumped either slightly before or simultaneously with said discontinuing of the drive. I also provide novel control means including a single hand lever which is operable to apply'a brake to check the descent of the loadlifting means, said lever being operable in another manner to again throw in or re-engage the drum-driving clutch when the next load is to be lifted, all of which will be hereinafter fully described.

The drum I4 is rotatably mounted in anappropriatesupporting structure l5 which preferably includes two spaced vertical plates I6 clamped against opposite edges of the rear base bar H, by means of bolts or the like iii. The shaft [9 of the drum It carries a gear2ll meshing with a pinion 2| on a countershaft 22, which counter-shaft may be mounted in any of the bearing openings 23,as may afford the most convenience in connecting the actuating means with ber 26, asdenoted ata3l. the upper end of said shiftable member beingpreferably provided with 'a sleeve .32 slidable on a portion of the drum shaft 18. A, longitudinal hand lever 33 is fulcrumed at 34 upon the shiftable member 3|! and when said lever is pushed rearwardly, it engages the slidable clutch member 23 with the relatively stationary clutch member 24, and disengagement of said member 26 from said member 24 is effected by forwardly pulling said lever 33. The rear end of the lever 33 carries a brake shoe 35 positioned for co-action with the brake drum 25. After the clutch has been thrown out and the load-lifting means starts to descend by gravity, causing retrograde rotation of the drum M, the rate of descent of said lifting means may be controlled by pulling upwardly upon the lever 33 and causing the brake shoe 35 to exert a proper amount of friction upon the brake drum 25. Suitable releasable locking means 36 may be provided to hold the lever 33 in any desired angular relation with the shiftable member 30.

In addition to the clutch-operating means above described, I provide a transverse clutch throw-out lever 3! which is operatively connected with the slidable clutch member 26, as denoted at 38, said lever being fulcrumed upon any suitable support. In the present disclosure, a bracket arm 39 is bolted to the foremost of the plates l6 and the lever is fulcrumed to this bracket arm. The outer end of the lever 31 is adjustably connected at 40 with an actuating rod 4| which extends longitudinally of one of the tracks I, said rod having a lateral projection 42 so positioned as to be struck by one of the slides 8 when the load-lifting means has been raised to a predetermined extent. The slide 8 thus forwardly pulls upon the rod 4!, actuating the throw-out lever 31 and causing this lever to withdraw the slidable clutch member 26 from the relatively stationary clutch member 23, discontinuing the driving of the drum I l and allowing the load-lifting means to descend by gravity. During this descent, the lever 33 may be actuated to apply the brake 35 to the drum 25 to control the speed of the winding drum l4 and therefore control the speed at which the loadlifting means may descend. Any suitable guides 43 may be provided for the rod 4|, said guides being carried by bracket arms 44 in the present disclosure, which arms are suitably secured to a portion of the base 5.

It Will be seen from the above that novel provision has been made for engaging the drumdriving clutch manually, for either automatically or manually disengaging said clutch, and for manually applying a brake to control the speed at which the load-lifting means will descend after the clutch has been thrown out or disengaged.

Should it be necessary to mount the shaft 22 in another position by passing it through certain of the bearing openings 23, the shiftable member 33 may still slide upon the drum shaft 59 and the lever 33 and brake shoe 35 will remain in such position that said shoe may coact with the brake drum 26. It would of course be necessary with such a diiferent positioning of the shaft 22 to change the position of the bracket arm 39. For this purpose, the foremost of the plates I6 is shown as provided with bolt holes 35 to receive the attaching bolt 43 of said bracket arm 39. Shifting of the shaft 22 to another position also necessitates adjustment of the lever 3'! with respect to the rod 3|, for which purpose the adjustable connection 40 includes a slot 41 or other equivalent means. The connection 40 preferably includes openings 48 in the rear end of the rod ll, and a bolt 43 which may be passed through any of these openings and through the slot 41. The openings 138 permit longitudinal adjustment of the rod 4| to change the location of the lateral projection 42, so that the desired ascent of the load-lifting means may be permitted before the slide 8 will automatically move the rod 4! to disengage the drum-driving clutch.

From the foregoing and the accompanying drawings, the construction and operation will be understood without further explanation but attention is again invited to the fact that variations may be made within the scope of the invention as claimed;

I claim:

1. In an actuating means for a load lifter having a base and load-lifting means mounted on said base; raising means for said load-lifting means, said raising means including a clutch for stopping the load-lifting operation, and automatic throw-out means for said clutch having an actuator positioned to be actuated by a movable part of said load-lifting means when said loadlifting means has been raised to a predetermined extent, thereby automatically stopping the loadlifting operation.

2. In an actuating means for a load lifter having a base, a longitudinal track thereon, load-lifting means having a slide movable along said track as the load is lifted, and a cable for raising said load-lifting means; a drum for winding said cable, driving means for said drum including a clutch, and automatic throw-out means for said clutch having an actuator mounted adjacent said track in position to be struck and actuated by said slide when the load-lifting means has been raised to a predetermined extent.

3. In an actuating means for a load lifter having a base, a longitudinal track thereon, loadlifting means having a slide movable along said track as the load is lifted, and a cable for raising said load-lifting means; a drum for winding said cable, driving means for said drum including a clutch, a throw-out lever connected with said clutch and disposed at an angle to said track, and a lever-actuating rod connected with said lever and slidably mounted near said track for movement longitudinally of the latter, said rod having a lateral projection positioned to be struck by said slide to actuate said rod and lever and throw the clutch out when said load-lifting means has been raised to a predetermined extent.

4. In an actuating means for a load lifter hav-' ing a cable-winding drum; drum-driving means having a movable drive-discontinuing member and a brake drum, a movably mounted shifting member operatively connected with said drivediscontinuing member, a lever substantially parallel with the path on which said shifting mem her is movable, said lever being fulcrumed on said shifting member for use in pushing said shifting member in one direction and pulling it in the other direction by movement of said lever in the direction of its length, one end of said lever being free for manual operation, and a brake shoe cooperable with the aforesaid brake drum and operatively connected with the other end of said lever to be actuated by the latter when the lever is swung about its fulcrum.

5. In an actuating means for a load lifter having a cable-winding drum; a drum-driving shaft having a clutch member and a brake drum, a drive shaft having a slidable clutch member for coaction with the first named clutch member, a movably mounted shifting member operatively connected with said slidable clutch member for moving the latter to and from operative position,

a lever substantially parallel with said shaft and fulcrumed on said shifting member for use in pushing said shifting member in one direction and pulling it in the other direction by movement of said lever in the direction of its length, one end of said lever being disposed at the periphery of said brake drum, and a brake shoe cooperable with the aforesaid brake drum and carried by said one end of said lever to be actuated by the latter when the lever is swing about its fulcrum.

6. In an actuating means for a load lifter having a base frame and a cable-winding drum, said drum having a projecting shaft end; means mounting said drum on said base frame, a coun- 15 ter-shaft geared to said drum shaft, means CHRISTIAN CHRISTIANSEN. 

